Saturday, September 6, 2008

I have the most kickass brownies recipe in the world. It gets better the longer you leave it, which is great incentive not to eat the whole batch all at once,(though if you taste them still warm and squishy fresh from the oven (ok, half an hour cooled, so you don't burn yourself on the chocolate bits) you'll find it hard to believe they get better.) and it's so easy to change the recipe around to make different flavours. These are the fudgey sort of brownies, but they are cakey enough to satisfy my sister who loves her own very dry, crumbly, cakey brownies. I modify the recipe almost every time I make it, to change flavours, and take advantage of new things I've found in the supermarket - who ever knew they made dried strawberries? Here is the recipe as the kids and I made them today, so you don't have to go flipping between this page and the original recipe. Sorry I have no cute kids cooking photos, but I couldn't really stop in the middle for fear of ingredients disappearing into little mouths!

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Place butter and dark chocolate in ametal bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until smooth.Allow to cool. Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat with a electricmixer (or wire whisk) until light and creamy. Add vanilla. Fold through chocolate and butter mixture. Sift the flour and cocoa over the mixture and mix to combine.Add strawberries, sultanas, and chocolate and pour into a 23 cm(9 inch) square pan that has been lined with cooking paper and sprayed with cooking spray.Bake for 35-40 mins or until set. Check with a knife. Allow to cool and then cut into squares. Chill overnight or for two days for best results.

Dried strawberries = nice touch. I've sent a boxful (the pictured boxful actually) to my parents place tomorrow with one of my sisters, so I will see what the reaction was when I get my container back. I have a smaller box to take with us to DP's parents (less chocolate eating people there) and an even smaller box here for us to eat (like I need the extra chocolate!) and I really liked them warm, but I'll see how these "age".